andrea, her hair & the print outs

pg 1,2,3,4....

erm..haha we really wanted to commemorate this mmt lah

yay, looks like we can finish this before we graduate after all

Just a week before the Year of the Ox arrived, a friend asked me this question: What is the difference between an ox, a bull, a cow and a buffalo?

It brought me back to Mandya, where Adeline and I had asked the same question. As we travelled through village after village,  Smitha and Razia very patiently (and with much amusement) identified every animal for us.

Four months later, I realised that I could not answer my friend’s question (I know, shame on me.) But thankfully, Straits Times very helpfully published a little trivial box on the first day of Chinese New Year. For all of you who still don’t know the difference, here it is:

• Ox: A castrated male of domesticated cattle kept for work purposes or for food
• Bull: An intact (not castrated) adult male
• Water buffalo: Frequently used in Asia for plughing, meat and dairy
• Cow: An adult female which has had one or two calves

Now, I wonder why it isn’t the Year of the Bull instead?

time check: 5:48am. we are still stuck in the CI Club Room, but on the final phase of our production already.

this is gruelling leh. it’s been more than 15hrs but we are still alive and are heading for macs breakfast now.

Riots in Thailand. Hundreds dead in Mumbai. And a Singaporean casualty.

When will it ever end?

Hopes and prayers go out to those in the thick of things and may all our friends there stay safe and sound.

With Shyam’s email reminding me to send in my product for grading, I could not help but went to take a look at what the gofurthers of 2007 posted last year when they were submitting their products.

Read Alphonsus’ post. Became very thoughts-full. I hereby extract for all to read, chew on and digest.

~//~

My take on grades is this: grades are important – it is what – unfortunately – determines our future to some extent. But I would be lying if I said they meant a lot to me. They don’t.

I’m a rebel, and I rebel against grades. They reflect almost nothing about who and what I am.

My theory is this: If you love what you are doing, just do it. You’ll probably do well at it.

But when it comes to art, if others agree with your art, you score well. If they don’t, you won’t. My experience with CS202 tells me this. I worked hard but got Cs for everything because the lecturer, the class and I didn’t agree on interpretation. But I got an A+ on the final assignment because we happened to agree. Can’t be helped. Art is art.

~//~

(GO-FAR should devote one entire semester to this, without the distraction of other modules. Who knows, we might be able to produce Nat Geo-worthy material.)

But deep down, I still can’t feel the urge to get my stories published. I don’t know why, and I’m actually starting to get a little worried that my lack of ‘want’ isn’t ‘normal’.

~//~

But I can’t identify with that feeling. I like to take my time, enjoy the moment, push each pixel, edit each line.

I want to present something only when it’s really done. And if it’s not really done, I’d rather not present it at all. Not when I’m not ready to hatch a story!

But since every Singaporean-else is hatching theirs, I don’t have much of a choice. As usual, back home, it’s do-it-now-or-die-because-everyone-else-is-doing-it-already.

And that’s probably the only reason I want to go back to Laos. Not because I like the government, or the land, or the infrastructure, or whatever.

It’s because it’s slow enough for old-man-me to actually take my time and live life the unhurried way, savouring each un-rushed moment.

~//~

This is Johnson, back again. Re-read the lines written one year ago, and I really somehow I love to agree, yet I hate to agree. Love-hate relationship rocks.

Personally, I feel like I had not accomplished the best of what I can do. I feel like I’m not really doing justice to the material I’ve gotten. Yet, I don’t feel confident that if I was ever going to be given a 2nd chance, I will do better.

Am I ready to hatch the egg? Definitely not. Do I need to hatch that egg? Hatch lor… just a bit paralysed, that’s all. No la, those are strong words. Well, for those of you who are musically inclined, performing music and playing music is different. I just don’t like to “just play music”.

(Nah, I’m ok with being graded, but not ok with myself, that’s all.)

Cheers,
Johnson

PS. I’ll try to upload, but perhaps only when I’m ready to hatch it and have it “perform”.

Well, I said that I’d upload this… enjoy

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Its World Food Day today

This year this special day has taken on a greater meaning as rising food prices risk increasing the number of hungry people in the world.

With the number of undernourished people currently estimated at more than 850 million worldwide, high food prices are not only putting at greater risk the hungry but those also on the brink of poverty

One country which has started a scheme to help farmers help themselves out of the poverty cycle is India

Rachel Ang spent some 18 days in South Indian state of Karnataka to find out more about the recently implemented Debt Waiver Scheme which helps small scale farmers with their agricultural loans…

click here to hear the full story…

I’m not sure how many of you have watched this documentary before, but I would highly recommend it. I chanced upon it in the National Library, and it tells the stories of six journalists who have died while working on conflict journalism.

I think it is really worth watching, especially with the live footages of the conflict scenes, from countries like Palestine and Iraq. I think the story we would all be familiar with is the story of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was abducted by Islamic terrorists and subsequently killed – with his execution recorded on video by the terrorists.

Although the documentary highlighted various important points about journalism (the importance of having independent media to be a watchdog for governments, the chilling effect, etc ), I think what struck me most was how these journalists really went all out to fight for what they believed in. All of them had their own lives outside the newspaper, they have wonderful friends and families, and yet they chose to risk their lives and did what they did – they really must had great convictions.

The trip to India was of course not war journalism per se, but it does expose us to what foreign correspondence is about. When placed in an unfamiliar territory, there would definitely be inconveniences, insecurities, fears, adjustments and issues to resolve. Most of the time, we had to go the extra mile, pun unintended, just to get an interview. But these journalists didnt just went an extra mile – they took their whole life with them! And it makes me wonder about my own set of convictions, and what role it plays in my own pursuit of truth – and to what extent am I, not only able, but also willing, to fight for them?

I was really moved by some of the stories, especially when they interviewed the wives of the deceased husbands. I like how the wife of Tim Lopes, an award-winning Brazilian reporter who was brutally tortured and murdered, told her son when he asked what he can do for his father:

“Use the weapons your father used to use. Use the words.“

Announcement:

My Karnataka feature story will be aired on this friday on 938LIVE at 620pm. If you guys wanna know more about the India’s Debt Waiver Scheme for farmers, or maybe just to hear my voice, listen in! haha…

I have travelled far. Furthest, as some supportive friends have claimed.
But have I reached deep enough?

I hear comments from interviewees about how lousy and lazy journalists are, reporting only on what the authorities say. All the talk about doing justice to the people.
Bah… what much can a student, what more an outsider, do about the state of affairs of a small village, in an unknown district of an alien state in a foreign country?

Perhaps I am naive. But by setting my own angle, prior to hearing out the views and comments on the ground, I have already stamped my bias in my article. In seeking out the quotes I need to affirm my own story angle, I have smothered issues and real concerns of those affected.

So what if the authorities,academics and experts justify certain actions and policies on the farmers.
“Its the best move, but its the best for whom?”
Despite being in a democratic setup, is the rationale of those in their high and mighty posts more crucial than the voice of the people below?

Its a power game after all.
a) the industrialist versus the agriculturalist
b) the rich cultivator versus the small farmer
c) the elite urban rich versus the new urban poor

I know I am not making much sense. So are my uncompleted drafts.
I admit. My stories are coming out really     s     l     o     w.